NOVEL WEB Chapter 77: Chapter 77
"Honestly, I don't even need to do anything. I just need to upload a few photos of us together."
"Can you make your wings appear again? Let me touch them." Tony still hadn't given up on studying Kurohane's wings. He was more interested in the unsolved principles of magic. After all, Kurohane's wings weren't genetic mutations that grew out, but rather pure energy constructs.
Kurohane: (glancing at Tony, bored). Even the oxen and horses on a film set aren't worked this hard! Can't you see I can barely stand?
Rolling his eyes, Kurohane nevertheless displayed two wings on his back. They didn't require much mental power, though the light from them wasn't as dazzling. They merely emitted a soft white glow, appearing incredibly warm, as if channeling peace amidst the chaos of New York.
Tony reached out and touched them directly, finding that the wings made of light felt solid. They were like glass with a slight warmth, quite comfortable. Tony quickly snapped a photo and uploaded it to his social media as fast as possible. The photo, captioned "Iron Man and the World's Most Handsome Angel," instantly garnered countless likes, nearly crashing the servers! If not for Stark Group providing the best servers available, it truly wouldn't have been able to handle such an immense number of views!
Indeed, the largest social media platform in the United States was still a company under Stark Group. Tony, rich and powerful, had directly acquired a small internet company. Relying on the unique advantage of Iron Man's selfie authentication, he had quickly entered the market and become an industry leader.
A portal appeared beside Kurohane. The Ancient One stood on the other side of the portal, smiling as she watched Kurohane display his wings. "Stop showing off, come here quickly," she said.
"Yes, Teacher Ancient One." Kurohane immediately put away his wings, then elbowed Tony. "I'll go see Teacher first. I'll see you after I recover." He added, "Loki is with me. Tell Thor to be patient."
"Okay." Tony was also quite busy. Flaunting his relationship with Kurohane was one thing, but there was a windfall waiting for him in New York City now. He had already prepared companies for post-disaster resettlement and reconstruction. Moreover, he truly wanted to study Chitauri weaponry. After all, you have to learn from everyone!
Kurohane walked into the New York Sanctum. Only the Ancient One sat in a chair waiting for him. Neither the male nor female versions of Loki were there. He didn't know where they had gone.
"Teacher Ancient One, have you disposed of both versions of Loki?"
Thud—!
The Ancient One reached out and patted Kurohane's head, then subtly rubbed her hand behind her back. Nothing else, Kurohane's physical strength far surpassed ordinary people. Hitting him was almost no different from hitting a wall.
"The matter with those two Lokis is easy to solve. First, let's resolve the issue of the four people you've trapped in the Mirror Dimension."
"My mental power is almost depleted, Teacher. You open the Mirror Dimension." Kurohane shrugged, indicating he was helpless. "By the way, they're not easy to talk to. They might start fighting as soon as they come in."
"It's fine, I'm here." Ancient One smiled faintly, then opened the Mirror Dimension and stepped inside. Three seconds later, she emerged again. She said she had taken care of it, and Kurohane could enter.
As soon as Kurohane entered the Mirror Dimension, he saw four corpses lying on the ground very peacefully. And four soul bodies floated in the air, staring at Ancient One with terrified eyes!
Kurohane: (shocked). I knew Teacher Ancient One was holding back! This move, capable of knocking several people's souls out of their bodies simultaneously, is comparable to the Soul Stone!
Ancient One tilted her head and looked at the strangely-faced Kurohane. "I'm not holding back. You can read all the books in the library," she said.
Kurohane: (eyes widening). She can read minds too?!
"I can't read minds."
Confirmed, she can read minds!
"Think whatever you want, I can't read minds anyway." Ancient One added, as if reading Kurohane's every thought.
Kurohane pouted helplessly and walked towards the souls of the four Avengers floating in the air. He scratched his head, then took out the Cosmic Cube and the Mind Stone, and placed them side by side on the ground. The souls of the four Avengers immediately became agitated, scattering in the air. They were like swimming in water, but no matter how they moved, they could only stay in place.
"Avengers from the future, I have a question I want to ask you," Kurohane's voice broke the strange silence in the Mirror Dimension. "If you can answer it, I will give you both Infinity Stones with both my hands." He pointed to the shimmering Cosmic Cube and Mind Stone on the floor. "Even the Time Stone in my teacher's hand, I can ask her for it for you."
Kurohane glanced at Ancient One and found she didn't say anything. It seemed she had given him the authority to handle this matter. Perhaps this was also part of the Supreme Mage's test?
"Ask whatever you want. We have the two smartest people in the world here. Banner has seven doctorates!" Scott Lang, the Ant-Man, floated upside down in the air, his mouth quite talkative.
Kurohane was unperturbed. He simply smiled faintly and said, "You came to save your Universe, but if the price you have to pay to save half the life in your Universe," his tone turned serious, "...is the destruction of our universe, would you still take the Infinity Stones?"
"We're only going to use the stones for a little while, then we'll return them to your timeline." Future Tony looked at Kurohane with a bewildered expression. In his memory, he had never seen anyone like Kurohane. The power Kurohane displayed was enough to be an Avenger, but S.H.I.E.L.D. hadn't found Kurohane, that was wrong!
"It's too complicated to explain, but trust me, in the development of time," Kurohane began, his voice imbued with a strange authority, "the four of you are no better than the Ancient One behind me. Before Doctor Stephen Strange successfully became the Supreme Mage, she was the one who protected the boundary between Reality and different dimensions. The Time Stone she held could even see all futures and pasts, but she still couldn't see your future. Do you know why?"
"Why?" Future Tony suddenly remembered something terrifying. If what Kurohane said was true, that the mysterious Ancient One couldn't even see their future, did that mean they no longer had a future?!
"Because the universe I'm in and your universe are already two completely different parallel universes!" Kurohane uttered, his voice growing more serious, echoing within the Mirror Dimension. "In your world, I don't exist!"
"If you take the Infinity Stones from me and it causes the destruction of our Universe," Kurohane stared intensely at the four floating souls, "who can bear this responsibility? Or rather, are you prepared to face my vengeance?"